Osteocytes from calvarial bone

Image of osteocytes taken from the calvarial bone of a five-day-old mouse. Calvarial refers to the cranium and is the bone that makes up the skull. Osteoblasts originate in bone marrow and contribute to the production of new bone. These cells build up bone matrix and as bone is continually being reabsorbed and regenerated these are very crucial cells and are continually being produced by the body. This image was generated by fluorescently staining with TRITC-phalloidin. Phalloidin binds specifically to F-actin, therefore, fluorescent-tagged phalloidin stains the actin in cells, which is a protein that comprises the cytoskeleton of cells. This image was created by capturing various layers of the fluorescently labeled sample and combining the individual Z stack images.